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WILLIAM H. DIBBLE, OF BORDENTOWN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO SAMUEL S. WHITE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. mi

Lette/rs Patent No. 63,709, dated April 9, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN DENTAL APPARATUS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. DIBBLE, of Bordentown, in the county of Burlington, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Dental Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents an apparatus made according to my invention, part thereof being shown in section.

Figure 2 is a top view of the plate K and its appurtenances.

Figure 3 shows a modification of part of the apparatus.

Figure 4; is a detailed view of the rest.

The object vof this invention is to facilitate dental operations in filling and repairing the teeth of the lower jaw, and to prevent saliva from wetting the teeth while the work is going on, and is an improvement on the invention set forth in Letters Patent granted tome October I7, T865. The several features of the present improvement are intended to simplify the apparatus both in its construction and operation, and also to make it more elegant in appearance.

The letter A designates a tube, whose lower end is connected `with a pump, B, made in this example of rubber. The tube A is provided with an air-valve, C, that opens outward to allow the escape of air when the pump is compressed. The tube A should be of rigid material, and of suiiicient strength to sustain thewcight of the parts which are above it. The upper end of the tube is connected with a reservoir, D, which receives from the mouth the saliva that is drawn away by the apparatus. Said tube is in this instance fitted by a screw-joint to the lower end of the reservoir, but the connection may be at any other convenient place. A smaller tube, E, proceeds from the end of tube A, within the reservoir nearly to its top, so as to prevent the saliva or other liquid present in the reservoir from getting into the pump. The saliva or other liquid can be removed from the reservoir by means of the discharge opening F near its bottom, said opening being controlled by a plug, Gr. To the upper end of the reservoir is fitted a tube, H, which connects said reservoir with the tongue-holder above. This tube may be wholly rigid, as shown in fig. 3, which is a modification of the one seen in fig. 1, or may be partly ilexible as shown in the last-mentioned gure. One advantage obtained by .making it fiexible is that it enables the apparatus to conform and adjust itself to the person of the patient, who,

when the apparatus is in use, seizes the pump or bulb B with one hand while the tongue-holder and its appurtenances are in the mouth, and the patients head being usually thrown back during the operation of dentistry, it follows that the patient, especially if a feeble person, can hold and work the pump with more comfort by reason of making the tube H, or some other portion of the apparatus, flexible so as to conform to and lie next to the body, than would be the case if it were rigid throughout. The modification of the tube H, seen in iig. 3, provides for a rigid tube which may be preferred by some persons. Instead of using a flexible tube, the same object can be obtained by making a universal or other joint in a rigid tube so that the tube can bend in any direction. In the modification I have also shown a lsmall discharging pipe, I, proceeding from the lower end of tube H, so

as to enter the reservoir when tube H is screwed down to its place therein. The object in providing the pipe I is to insure the discharge of the saliva and other liquids into the reservoir in such a manner as not to enter the pump through the air-tube E, but such discharge pipe I may be dispensed with, if desired, and care should then be taken to prevent the upper end of the air-tube E from resting against the inside of the reservoir, since there would be danger that it would receive from thence the saliva or other liquid that would trickle downwards along the sides of the reservoir. It will be observed that I have carried the top of the air-tube E to such a height that the reservoir can bc nearly filled before any liquid can enter said air-tube. The upper end of tube H receives or is connected in any convenient manner with the lower end of a tubef'I, which constitutes a portion of the frame that supports the tongue-holding plate K. The connection between the tubes H and .I should be air-tight, and should be also adjustable so that tube J may be raised or lowered to bring plate K to higher or lower positions to suit different patients or different ways of holding the apparatus. In this example I have made the connection by Vmeans of a screw-thread eut on the outside of tube d, which engages a screw-thread cut on the inside of tube H. If desired a coupling can be used to establish such connection after the manner of ce Ton 2 ccuplingthe ends of hose to cach other. The tube J extends upwards .a little distance yand is then bont to a horizontal position, from which it is again bent, so as to curve downwards as it extends backwards, forming nearly a crescent-shaped figure, to the concave side of which is connected the lower edge of the tongue-holder K, which consists oi' a plate that nearly fills up the bow or concavity made by the bending of the tube at this place. The said tongue-holder or plate K is also bont in the reverse direction, so as to present a curved instead 0f a plane surface to the tongue. The tube J terminates at or near the place where the inner part of plate K terminates, the frame of which said tube forms a part, being continued thence by means of a solidY wire, J',

which is iirst bent laterally and horizontally, and is then taken outwards and downwards to thefront, near to the place where the forward end of plate K is connected to the tube J. Instead of using a solid wire, J, for

the bow of the frame just described,'the tube J may be used by continuing the saine from the back end of plate K, since no disadvantage will result from having the frame which is thus made to consist of a tube or hollow wire, while it may serve as an additional means of relieving the mouth of saliva, and keeping it comparatively dry, if'the part which is bentlaterally is also perforated at convenient places. That portion of the tube which has the plate K connected to it is perforated, as at L, to allow the admission of saliva or other liquids which may be present in the mouth. The course of such liquid after entering the orifice L is through the tube J, thence through tube H into reservoir D, whence it is drawn away as occasion requires through the discharge opening. The saliva or other` liquid is'drawn into the tube J through theorifice L, of which there may be more than one, if thought best, by means ofthe suction produced by operating the pump B, the air from which isv expelled, when the pump is compressed, through the air-valve C, a valve opening downwards (not here shown) being placed in the tube H, the object of such .second valve being to prevent the air from the reservoir and pump going into the mouth, and yet to allow the saliva to pass down into the reservoir. It' the valve C is made very delicate it may not be necessary to provide a second' valve above, since the air expelled 'from the pump, when the latter.` is compressed, will escape through Valve C, whose opening is comparatively large, without ascending the long channel which intervenes before it can reach the orifice L in the tube J. The orifice L, it will be observed, is protected by plate K from being closed by contact -with the tongue. The length of the various parts of the apparatus is such as to allow the part which holds the plate K to reach t0 the mouth while a patient in a sitting attitude holds the pump iuhs hand. The tube J and the lateral part J, which is bent olf therefrom, as above described, forms a frame, which, in conjunction with plate K, keeps the teeth fromibeing made wet by Contact with the tongue and cheek, the frame being so placed in thc mouth as to enclose the teeth of one side of the lowerjaw, the teeth being enclosed between the bow marked J, which comes next to the cheeks and holds it away from them, and the tube J, and plate K, each of which serves to hold the tongue away from the inside of the teeth, thereby greatly facilitating the work of the dentist and preventing his work from beingv injured by saliva or other liquid. When the patient becomes conscious that saliva or other liquid has e collected in hismouth, he cau remove it by operating the pump and drawing it into the reservoir D. The upper jaw is supported meanwhile, so as to relieve the muscles of the face, by means of an adjustable rest which consists of a curved rod or plate, N, set transversely on the top of a vertical rod, O, which fits in an upright socket, I), that rises from the tube J just in front of the forward end of the plate K. vrlhe rod O may be screwed into the socket, and the transverse part may, if desired, be connected to the rod by a swivel or joint so that the rod can be raised or lowered in the socket without removing the rest from the mouth. It is only necessary to make the plate K, and the frame which holds it, the converse in shape of the example here given in order to use my invention on the opposite side of the mouth, so that it is necessary for a dentist to have two plates K, with enclosing frames, one right and one left, in order to be'ready to use the apparatus for opposite sides of the lowerjaw.

A device or apparatus for performing the same olice for the front teeth of the lower `jaw, and also others for the teeth of the upper jaw, can easily be made on the principle of construction and operation above shown, it being only necessary to alter the shape of the parts to the adaptation required therefor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isf- 1. I claim placing the air-valve, which allows the escape of air when the pump is compressed, below the reservoir which receives the liquids 'drawn from themouth, substantially as set forth.

2. I also claim placing the rest which supports the upperjaw upon the same frame which sustains the tongue-holder or plate K, substantially as set -i`orth.

3. I also claim connecting the tongue-holder or plate K directly with the tube-which receives the saliva and other liquids from the mouth, substantially as shown.

4. I also claim perforating the tube J, at any suitable point on that side which is protected by plate K from contact with the tongue, so that saliva and other liquids can be drawn out of the mouth without interruption, substantially as shown.

5. I also claim making the apparatus lexble in some convenientpart by inserting 'a flexible division, as in the tube H, or by ajoint where the tube isleft rigid, substantially as set forth.

WM. H. DIBBLE.

Witnesses:

W. It. MURPHY, Jr:, WM. TIEL. 

